The supermarket, post office, elementary school and several nice restaurants are all within a two-mile walk from my family’s cozy little suburban home. Our problem? Well, actually we have two:
The first is the 50-mph traffic on the main road towards all of those places. No sidewalks. No shoulders. Nothing but grass on one side, and traffic on the other. It’s a dangerous place to bike or walk.
Our second issue is where we live: the greater Atlanta metropolis. For those of you who haven’t been introduced to the wonders of southern weather, let me just say that after a few minutes of walking, you feel water condensing on your body within seconds due to the intense humidity.
The booming car-sharing industry has held itself out to people just like us as a transportation alternative, but there’s a few challenges. Our family of four spends about two hours a day driving to the places we need to go, and the occasional trips to family and friends during the weekends often involves even longer drives. So for right now, paid car-sharing services such as Zipcar and Getaround are not a practical alternative.